The present invention relates to the steerage of vehicles. The invention has particular, but not exclusive, utility with human-powered vehicles such as hand cycles and recumbent cycles. The invention will hereinafter be described with reference to a hand cycle for illustrative purposes only.
It is well known for disabled athletes to participate in wheelchair-based sports. More recently, hand cycles have become popular and are now recognised as a separate category of competition.
A hand cycle is a multi-wheeled human-powered vehicle which has a pair of cranks which are xe2x80x9cpedalledxe2x80x9d with the athlete""s hands and arms. Typically, the cranks are in phase, as compared to conventional foot-pedalled cranks which are typically out of phase.
Steerage of a hand cycle presents some difficulties due to the fact that the athlete""s hands are otherwise occupied in cranking the vehicle. In one known solution, it is known to apply differential braking to the left or right wheels via brake levers disposed on the hand cranks whereby xe2x80x9cbrake-steeringxe2x80x9d of the vehicle is achieved. In other known solutions, the athlete must release the cranks in order to manipulate a steering device. In any case, it is usually necessary to cease cranking in order to effect steering.
In other types of vehicles such as recumbent bicycles, it is likewise necessary to steer the vehicle via some mechanism manipulated by the cyclist""s hands.
According to one aspect the invention resides in a vehicle including: a frame; and a seat pivotally mounted with respect to the frame for pivoting about a seat pivot axis which extends substantially longitudinally of the vehicle, wherein pivoting of the seat relative to the frame about the seat pivot axis effects steerage of the vehicle.
According to a second aspect the invention resides in a hand cycle including: a frame; and a seat pivotally mounted with respect to the frame for pivoting about a seat pivot axis which extends substantially longitudinally of the hand cycle, wherein pivoting of the seat relative to the frame about the seat pivot axis effects steerage of the hand cycle.
The invention will now be described with reference to a hand cycle for illustrative purposes only.